Broadband semiconductor saturable absorber mirrors in the 1.55-μm wavelength range for pulse generation in fiber lasers

Broadband low-loss semiconductor saturable absorber mirrors (SESAMs) in the 1.55-/spl mu/m wavelength range were monolithically grown by solid source molecular beam epitaxy using a Burstein-Moss blue-shifted Ga/sub 0.47/In/sub 0.53/As-InP distributed Bragg reflector. Absorbers with fast and slow temporal responses were used to start up and to stabilize a stretched pulse mode-locked fiber laser. Reliable operation at a fundamental repetition rate was obtained without multiple pulse break-up with pulse energy of over 250 pJ.